Connection for tubular members



March 17, 1936. R J. MaCKENZIE CONNECTION FOR TUBULAR MEMBERS Filed Nov 27, 1934 Patented Mar. 17, 1936 CONNECTION FOR TUBULAR MEMBERS Roy J. MacKenzie, Buffalo, N. Y., assignor to Buffalo Pressed Steel Company, Buffalo, N. Y.

Application November 27, 1934, Serial No. 754,944

8 Claims. (Cl. 285140) The objects of this invention are to provide an which the exhaust gases are discharged from 5 improved connection between two tubular memthe mufller. These pipes are commonly provided bers, in which one of the tubular members is adjacent to their ends with outwardly extendprovided at its end with a flaring portion which ing annular ribs or parts, such for example as cooperates with a flange and with a portion of outwardly pressed beads 5, which serve to limit 10.13119 other tubular member to form a strong and the extent to which the pipes may be inserted 10'v tight'joint; also to provide a connection of this into the tubular extensions of the muffler head kind in which the turned edge of one of the and which also serve to form abutments or beartubular members also secures a flange in fixed ing projections for annular flanges 6 secured to relation to the tubular member; also to improve the pipes. These flanges as heretofore commonly |5 the construction of connections for tubular mememployed usually are of substantially Z-shaped bers in other respects hereinafter specified. cross section, each flange having an inner cylin- In the accompanying drawing: drical leg or portion 1 adapted to flt around the Fig. 1 is a fragmentary longitudinal View of a exterior of the tail or exhaust pipe and to conmufiier provided with connections embodying tact with the bead or outwardly extending part 5 this invention, one of the connections being which limits the extent to which the flange 6 20 shown in section. may move toward the adjacent end of the tail Fig. 2 is an end view of the mufiier and the or exhaust pipe. The flange also has a radially connection, partly in section, on line 2-2, Fig. 1. outwardly extending portion or web 8 provided Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional elevation on with suitable apertures through which the usual an enlarged scale, of a part of one of the tubular flange bolts 9 may extend and the outer end of 5 extensions of the mufller and its associated the flange is again in the form of a cylindrical flange. leg or portion I0. Each tubular extension B of In some installations the tail pipe and exhaust the muffler also has secured thereto a flange pipe have heretofore been secured to the short which is preferably of channel or U-shaped cross tubular portions of the muffler head by telesection, having an inner cylindrical leg or por- 30 scoping the exhaust or tail pipes relatively to the tion I l arranged about the tubular portion B and tubular extensions on the muffler heads and by which heretofore was welded to this portion. welding a flange on the end portion of the tubu- This flange also includes a radially extending lar extension of the muffler head. It has been web or portion l2 having apertures for the bolts found, however, that during the assembly of au- 9 and a cylindrical outer leg or portion l3 ex- 5 tomobiles, these welded portions frequently betending toward and adapted to contact with the come loosened or broken at the weld, and that Cylindrical po t o 0 0f the other fla consequently the entire mufller must be removed In accordance with my invention, I provide the and another one installed in its place. It is also outer end of each tubular portion B with an outfound that these connections between the mufller wardly flaring or beveled portion [4 which en- 4 and tail and exhaust pipes as heretofore made gages W an inclined face of the head and were not always gas tight and did 1 1-, h v fthus contacts with this bead over a more exficient strength, tended surface than when merely an edge of the While my connection is illustrated in the actubular member B Contacts With this head, as

companying drawing as used for securing the was the case with constructions heretofore used. 5 exhaust and tail pipes to a mufiler, it i t be This flaring or beveled end of the tubular memunderstood, however, that it is not intended to her B so results in 31301111? having ate Struclimit the invention to this use, sin e the s me tural or mechanical strength than such joints as may obviously be used for connecting tubular were heretofore made.

members for other purposes. The flange of the tubular member B may be 5 A represents a muffler which may be of any secured thereto in any suitable or desired manner, suitable or desired construction, and the oppofor example, by welding, as was heretofore done. site heads of which are provided with the usual Consequently even if such welded connection tubular extensions or portions B, the gases enshould become broken, the flaring end [4 of the tering into the muffler through one of the tubutubular member would still prevent its coupling 5 This invention relates to improvements in means for securing together or coupling tubular members, and particularly to devices of this kind for detachably connecting such members.

lar extensions and passing out of the same through the other extension. C represents the usual exhaust pipe leading to the muffier and D represents the tail or discharge pipe through member from becoming disengaged from the tubular member B. I have found, however, that further improvement in connections of this can be made by utilizing the flaring or beveled end of the outer of the two tubular members for securing a flange thereto, so that welding may be entirely eliminated. Consequently, the cylindrical leg ll of the flange may abut against the outwardly flaring or turned over portion [4 of the tubular member. Consequently, pressure exerted on this flange by the bolts 9 will act against the part M, which, being integral with one of the two tubular parts to be connected, will not be broken or damaged by excessive pressure of the bolts 9.

The flaring or beveled portion I4 may be curved outwardly from the cylindrical surface of the tubular member B only to, aslight extent, or if desired, the end of the tubular member may be bent or curled over as shown at l6, so that the end of the curled over part contacts with or approaches the outer face of the cylindrical leg I I of the flange.

It will also be noted in reference to Figs. 1 and 3 that the edge portion l8 of the inner cylindrical leg of the flange is flared or bent outwardly with reference to the axis of the flange. Consequently, when the end of the tubular member B is curled over against the end of the cylindrical leg ll of the flange, the beveled or flaring end I8 acts as a guide to prevent the forming of a sharp or abrupt bend at the juncture of the cylindrical portion of the tubular member with the flared or curled over end, and thus prevents breaking or weakening of the metal at this part of the tubular member, as might happen if the turned over portion I6 were turned against a sharp edge or right-angled corner of the cylindrical part II of the flange. This flaring part [8 results in the further advantage cf forming at M a more gradual inclination or taper, which results in a better wedging action against the outward projection or bead 5 of the other tubular member.

The outwardly flaring part l8 has still another advantage, in that when the curled over portion I B is formed so that the end of this part engages or approaches closely to the outer surface of the cylindrical leg II back of the flaring portion I8, this flaring portion forms with the end of the turned over portion I 6 a stop for holding the flange against movement lengthwise of the tubular member away from the outer end thereof. By means of this construction, the flange is consequently secured to the tubular member against movement in either direction lengthwise of the tubular member, but preferably this flange is not held against rotation by the curled over portion l6, so that when connecting the two tubular members, this flange can easily be turned to place the bolt holes therein into registration with the bolt holes in the flange 6.

In the use of the improvements described, the flange 6 cooperates with the bead 5 of the tubular member on which it is arranged in the usual man- The other flange, when the bolts 9 are tightened, abuts at its outer edge against the outer edge of the flange 6 and at its inner edge is drawn against the flared end I4 of its tubular member, thus drawing this end against the bead 5 of the other tubular member. Even if the bolts are excessively tightened, this latter flange can-. not become broken from its tubular member and draws the gradually tapered or inclined annular portion [4 against the correspondingly tapered side of the beador projection 5, thus forming a connection which is of very rigid mechanical structure, and which forms a gas tight seal between the two tubular members. In case excessive pressure is exerted by the bolts 9, it will be noted that such pressure would have a tendency to bend the outwardly flared portion [4 back 5 toward its original cylindrical form, this being particularly the case because of the beveled or inclined end l8 of the flange, and such deformation of the flared portion l4 would tend to draw the same still more closely into contact-with the bead 10 or projection 5. It will also be noted that this tendency to bend back the flaring portion I6 will be opposed not only by the metal of this flaring portion, but also by the bead or projection 5, thus greatly increasing the resistance of the end of 15 the tubular member B to rupture.

Another advantage of myimproved connection is that in flaring or rolling over the end of a tubular member, it is customary to place the tubular member into an accurately machined jig or fixture, so that the rolling or flaring over of the end of the tubular member can be accomplished with greater accuracy than the cutting of the end of this member. Also if the end of the tubular member is curled over against the flange, then both the tubular member and the flange are held in the jig or fixture during rolling of the end of the tubular member, so that the flange will also be secured with a high degree of accuracy to the tubular member. Such accuracy cannot readily be obtained when welding the flange to the tubular member.

I claim as my invention:

1. A joint between a tubular extension of a mufiler head and a pipe adapted to telescope into. said tubular extension and having an outwardly projecting bead formed thereon to limit the extent to which said pipe may telescope into said tubular extension, a flange on said pipe engaging one side of said bead, a turned over portion formed on the end of said tubular extension and adapted to engage the other side of said bead, a second flange surrounding said tubular extension and engaging said turned over portion, said second flange having a cylindrical portion engaging said tubular extension, the end of said cylindrical portion being flared outwardly with reference to the axis of said tubular extension, and said turned over portion extending over said flaring portion of said flange to hold said flange in fixed relation to said tubular extension, and means for drawing said flanges toward each other.

2. A joint between a tubular extension of a muffler head and a pipe adapted to telescope into said tubular extension and having an outwardly projecting bead formed thereon at a distance from the end thereof which enters said tubular extension, to limit the extent to which said pipe may telescope into said tubular extension, a flange on said pipe engaging one side of said bead, an outwardly turned portion formed on the end of said tubular extension and adapted. to engage the other side of said bead, a second flange surrounding said tubular extension and engaging said outwardly turned portion, said second flange having a cylindrical portion arranged about said tubular extension and having its outer edge arranged adjacent to the outer end of said tubular extension and flaring outwardly with reference to the axis of said tubular extension, said outwardly flaring portion engaging said outwardly turned portion of said tubular extension to form an extended tapering bearing surface to press said outwardly turned portion against said bead, and means for drawing said flanges toward each other.

3. A joint between two tubular members, one of which telescopes within the other, an outwardly extending projection formed on the inner of said two tubular members, a flange secured to said inner tubular member, a second flange of substantially. channel-shaped cross section arranged about the outer of said tubular members and having a substantially cylindrical inner leg with its outer end flaring outwardly and arranged in contact with said outer tubular member and having its free edge extending toward the end of said outer tubular member, the end portion of said outer tubular member being turned over the flaring end of'said cylindrical portion of said second flange to hold said second flange against movement toward the end of said outer tubular member and to form a tapering seat for said projection of said inner tubular member, and means for drawing said flanges toward each other.

4. A jointbetween two tubular members, one of which telescopes within the other, an outwardly extending projection formed on the inner of said two tubular members, a flange of substantially channel-shaped cross section arranged about the outer of said tubular members and having a substantially cylindrical inner leg arranged in contact with said outer tubular member and having its free edge extending toward the end of'said outer tubular member and flared outwardly the end of said outer tubular member being turned over said flaring end of said flange to hold said second flange against movement lengthwise of said outer tubular member both toward and'irom said end thereof, and means for drawing said flange and said inner tubular member toward each other.

5. A mufiler provided with a head having a tubular extension adapted to receive a pipe having a bead formed thereon to limit the extent to which said pipe may telescope into said extension, said tubular extension having its outer end turned over, a flange arranged about said tubular extension andhaving a cylindrical portion arranged in contact with said tubular extension and having its outer end flared outwardly and extending into said turned over portion of said tubular extension and held thereby against movement in either direction lengthwise of said tubular extension.

6. A joint between a tubular extension of a muifier head and a pipe adapted to telescope into said tubular extension and having an outwardly projecting bead formed thereon to limit the extent to which said pipe may telescope into said tubular extension, a flange on said pipe, the end of said tubular extension being flared outwardly and adapted to engage a side of said bead, a second flange surrounding said tubular extension and secured against movement lengthwise thereof in either direction, and means for drawing said flanges toward each other.

'7. A joint between a tubular extension of a mufiler head and a pipe adapted to telescope into said tubular extension and having an outwardly projecting bead formed thereon to limit the extent to which said pipe may telescope into said tubular extension, a flange on said pipe, the end of said tubular extension being flared outwardly and adapted to engage a side of said bead, a second flange surrounding said tubular extension and secured against movement lengthwise thereof in either direction, and adjustable circumferentially about said tubular extension, and bolts connecting said flanges.

8. A connection between two tubular members, one of which has an annular outwardly projecting part on its outer periphery adjacent tothe end portion thereof, a second tubular member having its outer end turned over outwardly, said turned over portion being adapted to engage said projecting part of the first tubular member, a flange for said second tubular part and having its outer end flared outwardly and engaging said turned over portion, said turned over portion extending about said outwardly flaring end of said flange for holding said flange against lengthwise movement in either direction relatively to its tubular member but permitting adjustment of said flange about the axis of its tubular member, and means associated with said flange and said other tubular member for drawing said projecting part and said turned over parts of said tubular members together.

ROY J. MACKENZIE. 

